This is exactly what I needed today on a rather soggy day. That and brilliant company as I met a friend for lunch. I love Chowder. It’s a very hearty soup. And we all know what a fan of soup I am!! OK, I’ll stop obsessing.

This was Smoked Haddock, Leek and Sweetcorn Chowder. It definitely hit the spot! I woke up in a bit of a calorie deficit after yesterday. Definitely got my food intake wrong. So made up for it with a hearty dinner and hearty lunch.

Why do we say hearty?! Is it because it makes you feel good as well as filling you up? This definitely warmed my stomach and my heart. The company was good for the soul too.

What a fabulous horsey day. I arrived at Easton College at 7:20am to meet Caroline Powell. She’d beaten me there! She put together the final touches to the floor plan she’d sent over (and I’d build) all ready for the first lesson. She’s won Badminton, Burghley and an Olympic medal so pretty good really. And a really lovely down to earth person.

Poor woman was very hoarse though, so we managed to find a microphone for her. Foghorn Leghorn here ended up relaying messages too. Good to see the drama lessons helped there. I can be a bit loud…

After being there to help as long as I could. I hightailed it back to the yard to get Buddy for his lesson. Now having watched several lessons, you’d might be fooled into thinking we would have an advantage. I can assure you that watching and doing are very different! Kudos to those who made it look easy. The floor plan and exercises were a lot more tricky that you’d think. She said she uses these exercises with all her horses from 4 year old up to her Advanced horses. I can see why.

I have lots of homework and a few more exercises to keep me motivated over the dark, cold winter months. It actually felt like November this morning when I left the house. It was 4 degrees! Back up to 11 degrees by the time I eventually got home at 6:20pm.

The good news is that Caroline’s voice held out for the whole day. There were lots of smiley riders, lots of gorgeous horses and lots of positive feedback. It takes a lot of effort to put these clinics on, it’s totally worth it when you know that people appreciate them.

Well it seems that Bert is definitely a water baby. He went for a lovely paddle in the stream while looking for his toy. The toy his Mother accidentally threw in said stream. I never was a good thrower. It was more of a flung than a throw.

The result? Bert paddling round trying to find said toy. And walking over it several times as it lay on the edge of the river.

Yes, I went to rescue it. Yes, I got rather muddy boots. Yes, I nearly fell in. Yes, he is worth it…

This is what happens when a Baby Sprocker and a Baby Labrador meet up for a puppy play date. Lots of pouncing and playing. Barney and Bert took the play part of puppy play date very much to heart.

Barney has grown a lot since Bert first met him. Back then, Bert was the big one. Now it’s the other way round. Barney is bigger than Bert. And still growing!

They had so much fun together. We took the trail round the Norfolk Showground. Lots of snuffles and sniffs for them both.

It made me laugh as Barney kept trying to eat Bert’s ears. I mean, they are a good moving target…

My garden got its annual haircut today. A team of men with power tools went through it at the same speed as a swarm of locust! It was a sight to see. They made short work of my rather overgrown bushes and hedges.

Everything has been trimmed, reshaped and coiffeured. It looks fab. It also makes the rest of the garden look a bit shabby. It’s on the list…

My to-do list is at epic proportions at the moment. I’m 2 weeks away from big Conference so there’s lots to be done still. The next few weeks are going to be full on to say the least.

I know it will all come together. It always always does. I will be transforming into an event swan soon. Let’s hope it’s as successful as my garden transformation…

It’s been a bit of an odd day today. I’ve done lots, but at the same time I’m not sure what I’ve done. One of those days…

I took Bert out for a walk this morning. With his ‘walk toy’. He loves it. It makes a lovely twang noise as I throw it for him. He runs around with it. He plays tug with it. He also pulls the elastic tight and fires it back at me. Not sure it’s his intentions, but he seems to enjoy it.

Me, not so much as I get smacked by a flying rubber ball. Earlier, he got me right in the stomach. I was laughing cause I was wearing my thicker coat so it didn’t hurt. I wasn’t laughing when I got home and realised the ball had hit my phone and keys in my pocket. The result? A broken phone screen.

As I can’t take a photo of said broken screen, here is the offending toy instead. I’ve been saying for a while I need to get a new phone. Looks like I will have to get onto it sooner…

I finally got round to transplanting this cordyline today. It’s been a few months since I smashed the pot when I accidentally reversed my old lorry into it.

I thought I’d do a spot of weeding while I was at it. My neighbour has been clearing the other border so I felt like I should make a bit of an effort. As we’ve had a bit of rain, my theory was that it would be easier. Right? Nope, still took ages to clear what seemed like a tiny bit.

Still I cleared enough to put this plant in. It’s a bit of a survivor really. I bought it many year ago. Moved it from my old house in Poringland. But thought I’d lost it when we had the heatwave a few years ago. I left it in the hope it would come back. And it did. It grew a baby!

Looking forward to watching it grow in its new home. Not looking forward to the rest of the weeding I still have to do. At least I got to listen to some great country tunes while I was doing it.

OK so I might be getting a little obsessed with this soup making lark. My Mum would be rather proud. I’ve definitely used her soup maker more than she did.

I went food shopping yesterday and they had mushrooms on offer. So now I have a vat of mushroom soup in the fridge.

I also bought a butternut squash. Learning from last time, today I decided to get myself a new peeler. Last time it took longer to peel the bloody thing than make the soup. I made a lot of mess too as bits of skin (not mine) were flying off in all directions. Maybe I’m not quite a domestic goddess just yet. But surely I get points for trying?!

Of course, there’s no guarantees that I will fair any better with a speed peeler. Let’s just hope I still have my fingers intact after using it. I’ve already got one bruised hand…

Am I becoming a soup bore? I’m just excited I’ve actually found something I can culinarily achieve in the kitchen other than toast.

It’s been a bit of a trick & treat day today. I had a treat meeting up with a friend for a lovely hack round High Ash. We haven’t ridden out together for a while as she’s moved to a new yard. It was so good to catch up and chat our way round. Two very well behaved ponies too. A lovely canter definitely blew the cobwebs away.

Sadly, the trick involved a ‘when Pip gets injured’ moment. Buddy and I had a bit of a disagreement this morning. He was having his boy bits washed. Normally he’s very amenable. This time, he was rather sensitive. Now anyone who knows Buddy, knows he was rather expressive when he is not happy. This time was no difference. He flashed his teeth at me, I put my hand up to block him, unfortunately he caught my hand – with his teeth!

Initially I brushed it off, but after a few minutes I felt rather peculiar. Very sweaty, nauseous and light headed. I needed to sit down for a moment. Thankfully we have a paramedic on the yard. She came and checked me over. Looks like it was the shock of it that caused the reaction.

After a few minutes, I was back to normal. I am now sporting a rather black and blue bruised hand. Didn’t stop me enjoying the rest of my day and my treat ride.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Bert found a toy on our walk today. He was rather enamoured with it. It was a tad awkward to carry, but undeterred he race round with one end in his mouth and the other end smacking him round the face, tummy and bum! He is such a boy sometimes. Definitely a bull in a china shop type.

As it wasn’t technically his toy, I left it on a fence hoping it’s rightful owner would find it.

Imagine my surprise when one of my lovely neighbours knocked on my door to return it to him. She’d seen him playing with it, so assumed it was his. Didn’t have the heart to tell her that he’d found it. Guess it was found and found. Looks like Bert has a new toy. Kinda poetic after he lost his favourite one on a walk…